Mahler’s seminal work explores deeply personal existential questions through his awe of nature

“I have been granted a time that was good, and I think it is the most personal thing I have done so far.” [Mahler in a letter to conductor Bruno Walter, 1908]

In a year of crisis, Mahler was grieving the death of his daughter, ousted from his post at the Vienna State Opera, and finally diagnosed with a fatal heart condition which robbed him of his much-loved walks among the woods, lakes, and mountains of the Austrian countryside.

During this period, Mahler sought solace in Chinese poetry of the Tang dynasty era, newly available in translation. The poems he selected from Hans Bethge’s Die chinesische Flöte (The Chinese Flute) grapple with the brevity of life and certainty of death, often articulated through the motifs of music and nature.

City of London Sinfonia, under the baton of conductor Kenneth Woods with mezzo-soprano Yvonne Howard and tenor Satriya Krisna, present Mahler’s seminal work exploring deeply personal existential questions through his awe of nature. The wider season examines the interplay between the natural world and those who turn to it for solace, for reason, and for hope.

CLS will be joined by award winning composer Dr Helen Anahita Wilson for the first part of the evening to discuss music, composition, and the healing power of the natural world. Dr Wilson is currently Composer in residence at Chelsea Physic Garden.

Music

Mahler Das Lied von der Erde (Song of the Earth)
Du Yun ‘Duet for oboe and tam-tam’ from Angel’s Bone

Guest artists

Kenneth Woods: conductor

Yvonne Howard: mezzo-soprano

Satriya Krisna: tenor